The orange couch behindthe door, or: When goodenough is enoughYou don’t have to know everything about how your vocation to religiouslife is going to turn out to take the first steps toward it.

o W WiLL i Kno W if thisis what i’m really called to?”That is one of the most fre-quent questions vocations directors hearwhen talking with men and women in

BY
BROTHER
JOHN MARK
FALKENHAIN,
O.S.B.

H

Brother John Mark Falkenhain,
O.S.B. is the vocation director
for Saint Meinrad Archabbey in
southern Indiana. In addition
to his vocation ministry, he is
a clinical psychologist, assists
with monastic formation, and
teaches part-time in the Saint Meinrad Seminary
and School of Theology.

discernment to religious life. The answeris quite simple: you won’t! True as it maybe, however, that answer is too short andnot very helpful. A little explanation,on the other hand, can put someone indiscernment at ease and take some of theanxiety and pressure out of strugglingwith the question, “How will i know?”Many women and men discerning avocation imagine that they need to havea fairly certain sense that religious life isright for them before they even take thefirst few steps toward actually findingout. Perhaps they fear getting pressured